netboy

Size 16 scud hook tied with Australian Possum fur dubbing, which ends up being a tan/brownish color.

I went out of the house at 7am to pack up the truck for a morning's fishing and ran into this guy. He was pretty belligerent and backed off a few feet and then we had a stare down going on. He stomped his hoofs a few times and I took a few pictures and continued to pack the truck. He just stood there for about 5 minutes and we stared at each other. He was still there when I drove off. Went to the dam and fishing was about the same. Scuds, midges and cracklebacks worked. Lots of people fishing today but it was still pretty good. Here are a couple of pics... My buddy and a nice rainbow on a scud.

Went to the state park access this morning and fishing was pretty good. It seems the shad kill is beginning to decline. The fish seemed to be getting back to normal feeding patterns. The last few weeks the trout have been feeding heavily on the shad kill when they turn on the generators in the afternoons. I caught a couple nice fish last week that puked up shad when I netted them. Best flies today were midges, scuds and a crackleback. Ended the morning with a dozen nice size rainbows and a couple cutties. Here is a one of the better ones....

Always fun to sight fish. Nice ones.

Wade fishing has been a bit slow at the dam recently as there has been a shad kill in the late afternoons when they turn on the generators. The fish have been eating well during the shad kill and not responding to the small stuff in the mornings. I have been fishing downstream around the Narrows and Cotter but noticed very small water releases yesterday, so I made a trip to the dam this morning. Fishing was better with scuds, eggs and cracklebacks. Ended the morning with a dozen nice sized rainbows, one brown and one cutthroat. Here is the best one of the morning....

Call the Game Wardens when you see that stuff going on. In Arkansas they will give you a pretty good cash reward based on the fines collected..... Missouri number is 800-392-1111. With that said. they may come and may not. I have called 3 times in Arkansas and they have responded twice. If you don't call, then don't complain. Operation Game Thief | Missouri Department of Conservation (mo.gov)

^^^^That is possible, but the rainbow carcasses were not around the boat ramp where people usually clean their fish. Also, they were all in the 20" range, which are rarely found outside of the C&R area.

I went to the BS dam access this morning and fishing was pretty good. The best flies were a Y2k early and then when the fog burned off, a crackleback worked great. Caught a dozen nice rainbows and missed a few more. When I was wading out, I ran across this guy that was dead on the bottom of the river. What a shame. Last weekend (Labor Day) I saw the remnants of 3 nice rainbows that were filleted and dumped back into the river in the "catch and release area". It is deplorable what some of these people do. Dead brown from this morning...

Made a trip to Ackerman access this morning for a change of pace. Minimum flow was scheduled until 2pm and the fishing was pretty good. I did notice the water was a bit off colored, but it didn't slow the bite. Best flies were a Y2K and then later in the morning a crackleback worked well. Ended the morning with a couple dozen rainbows and 1 average size brown. Here is the best one of the morning...

This is what they look like when they hit the ribbonfish.

Those ribbonfish used to make great trolling baits for kingfish off the Texas coast. The bigger, the better. We rigged them with a 2-hook rig and slow trolled. Many times, the kings would come up under them and clear the water by 10 feet on the strike. It was pretty exciting.

I agree, just watch out for the many scammers out there trying to make a buck on the "Green New Deal".

Be very careful who you pick to do the installation. Had a friend that chose what turned out to be a scammer. Paid the guy and it was not installed to code. Had to get another contractor to come in and correct. Ended up costing twice the price of the scammer's original estimate.

Wow, I miss the South Texas waterhole hunts and the fantastic whitewing hunts in the grain fields in northern Mexico. Had to wear gloves to not get your hands burned.

When I look at the design of a circle hook, I wonder how a fish would ever get hooked, but they do.

It amazes me how well a circle hook works. We used to use them offshore for snapper and grouper and the hookup ratio was great. I wonder who ever figured that out.

Fishing was good once again with the low water. I started with a tandem scud rig and had good luck, then when the sun came out and the fog burned off, the crackleback started working. Ended the morning with a couple dozen rainbows, one small cuttie and an average size brown. Here is best one this morning.

Well. just try one and let us all know. Certainly not a "bubber band" line. Less stretch than a Cortland line The "big 3" are still ripping people off on their $500 fly rods and $700 fly reels. I asked a well-known fly guide and guru down here...What's the difference between a $500 fly rod and a &50 fly rod and his answer was $450 and maybe a free logo hat. With that said, I think the "Big 3" are realizing they are charging way too much for nothing but a logo. You can take this as an opinion of someone that fly fishes most every day of the year.

The 8-weight version used to work great for redfish up to 15 pounds when I lived in Corpus Christ and trust me, nothing pulls like a big red hooked on an ankle deep flat. If you tied an 8-pound red tail to tail to an 8-pound rainbow trout, the red would drown the rainbow in a minute.

Looks like fun time was had by all. The storm missed us here in Cotter.

Interesting post from Davy Wooton on missing hits on stripping flies on a tightline. He suggested to hold the rod higher on the retrieve and use a softer action rod to give a little cushion when they strike. That has helped my strike to hookup ratio. The guy that started the thread suggested using a shock gum segment to further lessen the time between the take and the hookset. Someone please explain... - Fly Fishing Arkansas and Missouri (tapatalk.com)

Well get the $3.39 version. Trust me they work great.

No stretch on these lines. Actually, I lose some fish by striking too fast when stripping a cracklback or woolly bugger. A little stretch might solve that problem.

I hate to say it, but I use the $3.39 cheapo fly lines from Aventik on Ebay. They may not last as long as the quality lines, but they cast great. I change them after a few months of use. Aventik Trout Line Fly Fishing Line Dynamic Tapered Float Fly Line Exposed Loop | eBay

Went to the dam this morning and had a good time. Water was at minimum flow and the fish were pretty active. Ended with 18 including this nicely colored male rainbow. I kept switching between a crackleback, a tandem wet fly rig and a tandem scud rig under an indicator. Seemed like each time I switched flies, I would get a short flurry of action and then they would slow down until I switched again.